Tasting Turkish Culture

Maklube Ingredients: 2 cups rice 2 tbsp butter 2 pounds beef stew 4 and 1/2 cups water 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 4 medium potatoes 1 big diced onion 2 medium carrots For salad: 1 whole romaine hearts lettuce diced 1 cup plain yogurt shredded carrots diced red cabbage diced cucumbers diced tomatoes Preparation: 1. Put beef stews in pressure cooker, add 2 cups water, salt and pepper and put the lid on. 2. Turn the heat on to medium , let it cook for 25-30 minutes. Turn the heat off and drain the meat, set that aside. 3. Peel the potatoes and slice them round like ring, fry them in 2 cups oil. 4. After that peel the carrots and slice them round,fry them. 5 Place half of beef stew as one layer at the bottom of cooking pan. Add already washed and drained 1 cup of rice, place onion, fried potatoes and carrots on top of rice. 6.Then repeat the process first, beef stews then uncooked last cup of rice, finally place onion fried potatoes on top of rice. 7 When you finish, put salt an...

Bugun 23 Nisan/ Nese doluyor insan! Today is Children’s Day in Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC). Also known as National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, this festival was dedicated by the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, to the children of the country. The day actually commemorates the anniversary of the inauguration of the Turkish Parliament in 1920 and promotes children as the symbol of modern Turkey. Schools participate in ceremonies marked by performances in large stadiums watched by the entire nation on TV.

Ingredients: 1 stick unsalted butter 5 cups of milk 1 cup of flour 1 tbsp corn starch  1 package of vanillin powder 1 cup of sugar walnut pieces or cinnamon (optional) Directions: 1-In a medium pot melt the butter on medium heat. Add the flour on the melting butter and stir it for 3-5 minutes.  2-Add the sugar and stir it for another 2 minutes. Then, add the milk, corn starch and stir constantly until the mixture boils. When it starts boiling, add the vanillin powder and stir to mix it. Turn down the heat to low medium. Boil the mixture for another couple of minutes. 3- And then beat the mixture with a blender for a couple of minutes until it becomes creamy. Rinse a baking sheet which you are going to pour the mixture into, drain excess water, and pour the mixture in it. You can sprinkle some cracked walnut or cinnamon on top to decorate. Serve it cool. Enjoy it!

Guvec Ingredients; .1/2 pound beef/lamb .1 cup of frozen green beans .1 cup of eggplant ( cubed) .1 cup of diced zucchini .1 cup of diced potato . 1 clove garlic . 1 tomato .1 tbsp red pepper paste .1 tbsp tomato paste .1/4 cup incfinely diced green pepper .1 large onion .2 tbsp canola oil .1 tbsp butter .1 tbsp salt .1 cup of water Preparation; Diced the beef small pieces. Saute the beef. Spread canola oil on the pan and add the items in the following order; beef, potatoes, eggplant, beef, pepper, beans, zucchini. In a separate container, mix finely diced onion,garlic, tomoto, salt,black pepper and tomato paste.Pour this mixture on the guvec. Add canola oil, butter and water on top, cook in low heat for 1 hour. Let sit 10- 15 minutes when cooked.

Knot Pogaca Ingredients; . 1 cup of warm milk .1 cup of warm water .3/4 cup of oil .1 egg( yolk is separated for topping) .5 cup of flour ( approx.) .1 tbsp dry yeast .3 tbsp sugar .1tbsp salt For topping ( optinal); Sesame seesd grated mozzarella cheese and Turkish sausage mixture Preparation; In a medium bowl combine all dough ingredients and knead them until you get elastic and smooth dough. In a warm place let the dough rise for 1 hour.Then, take small pieces from the dough and flatten them with a rolling pin. Put some stuffing mixture on the flat dough circle, then make a roll. Holding two edges of the rolled dough, crate a knot like shape. Brush the surface of the pogaca with egg yolk and sprinkle some sesame seeds and black seeds. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 F until it turns golden brown. Afiyet Olsun!

Borek with B read Crumbs Ingredients ; . 1/2 pack triangle Turkish fillo dough .1/2 cup water .1/2 cup vegetable oil .1/2 pound ground beef .1 medium onion .1 cup chopped parsley .1 tsp black pepper .2 tsbp salt .1 egg .2 cups of bread crumbs .2 tbsp oil Preparation; Cook the ground beef in a pot/ pan. Then, chopped the onion. Add vegetable oil,chopped onion,chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Cook for until they get soft.( approx. 3-4 min. in a medium heat) Mix the water and oil in a separate bowl. Spread this mix inside the fillo dough. Add the ground beef mix inside the triangle. Wrap the fillo dough, dip in egg, then bread crumbs, place on tray ( spread some oil then tray to avoid sticking ).Bake in pereheated oven at 350 F until they get golden. Afiyet Olsun!

Rose Dessert ( Gul Tatlisi ) Ingredients; . 1/2 cup semolina .1 egg .3/4 cup oil .1/2 cup yogurt .1 stick unsalted butter ( at room temperature) .1 tsp baking powder .1 tbsp vinegar .1 packet vanilla powder .salt ( a little) .3 and 1/2 cup of flour ( approx.) .cracked walnut For syrup, .2 cup water .1 and 1/2 cup sugar .1 tsp lemon juice Preparation, First of all prepare the syrup. Mix the water and sugar in a pan and boiled the mixture. Turn down the heat to medium and boil the syrup about 3-4 minutes and add the lemon juice. Set aside and let it cool down. Then, prepare teh dough. In a large bowl combine butter,yogurt, oil, semolina, vanilla powder , vinegar ,and mix them. Add flour to the mixture and baking powder to the flour without mixing. Then, add a little salt and knead the mixture until it becomes soft dough ( like an earlobe ) Divide the dough into 3 equal parts and spread it 1/5 inch thick with rolli...

Mosaic Borek, Pastry ( Mozaik Borek ) Ingredients; . 3 Fillo dough sheets .2 onions .1/2 pound ground beef/lamb .1 bunch of spinach .2 carrots .1/4 tsp salt .1/4 black pepper For the sauce, Whisk the eggs with the milk and oil for the sauce. For the filling, Put oil in three separate pans, cook in one shredded carrots, finely diced onion and diced spinach in the second, and finely diced onion and ground beef in the third. Preparation, Spread the first fillo sheet, pour sauce then spinach mix, spread the second fillo on top of the first pour sauce then ground beef filling, spread the last layer on top pour sauce and carrot.Roll it. Cut the one inch pieces. Put in a tray and pour the rest of the sauce on it. Cook in preheated oven at 350 until it gets golden.

Lentilball (Mercimek Koftesi) Ingredients; . 1 cup of red lentil .1-1/2 cups of fine cracked wheat  .2 cups of water .1 medium size onion (blender)  .1/2 bunch parsley (finely chopped) .3-4 scallion  ( finely chopped) .2 tbsp tomato paste .1 tbsp pepper paste .1/4 cup of oil ( vegetable) .1/4 lemon juice .1 tbsp cumin  .1/4 tsp black pepper .1/4 tsp red pepper .1/2 tsp salt Directions; 1-Rinse and boil the lentil over medium heat with 2 cups of water in a large pot. After, lentil gets soft (it is going to be mushy), turn off the heat, add the cracked wheat and stir ( there should not be any water). 2- Cover the lid and wait for 10 minutes to allow wheat to absorb the water. 3-Then add tomato paste, pepper paste, onion,lemon juice,oil, and all the spices. Knead them like a dough.Then add parsley and scallion. Knead couple minutes. 5- Divide the lentil dough into walnut size and give a football shape. If the mixture sticks, wet your...